Shah Alam Nur :Several thousand foreign nationals are allegedly involved in serious financial crimes across the country as organised gangs are now eyeing a bonanza in various thriving sectors.According to intelligence sources, the foreigners are involved in illegal Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) trade, money laundering, drug trafficking, smuggling of gold and other metals, and minting and supply of counterfeit currency notes.For Bangladesh’s suitable geographic location, global financial crime syndicates are using the country as a transit route to gold smuggling, foreign currency and drug trafficking to several countries.India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Switzerland and some other potential pockets of the world are also targeted as lucrative destinations for the informal trans-national trade. According to Special Branch (SB) statistics, around 21,000 foreigners are now staying in Bangladesh illegally. This poses a serious threat to national security and creates extra pressure on law-enforcement department.Meanwhile, the law enforcement agencies have traced more than 11 local and 30 international syndicates and another strong crime cartel involved in gold smuggling through the three international airports of Bangladesh.In recent time, customs intelligence has detained five people over the smuggling of huge amount of Indian rupees into Bangladesh through the Chittagong Port.”Members of the law-enforcement agencies have been observing that criminals from foreign countries alarmingly involved in financial crimes,” an official of the Special Branch (SB) told The New Nation on Saturday.He said more than 3,500 foreign nationals, involved in criminal activities, are staying across the country under the shelter and support of a section of local syndicates.He said many foreigners with a motive of committing crimes are arriving in Bangladesh on tourist, business and student visas. They don’t go back as they are getting involved in various financial crimes.Apart from gold smuggling and money laundering, the law enforcers found involvement of the foreign nationals in several other sectors, including human trafficking, forgery of foreign currencies, trafficking in narcotic drugs, counterfeit cosmetics and fake currencies and so on.Uttara, Banani, Gulshan, Baridhara, Nikunja, Karwanbazar, Dhanmondi and Lalmatia are among the areas of their surreptitious residency.Several times the law-enforcement agencies detained Indian and Pakistani citizens who are involved with gold smuggling from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the city. Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has told the parliament that 549 foreigners of 12 countries are now in different jails of in the country for their involvement in crimes here. Of them, 76 foreign nationals are serving different jail terms while trials are going on against 393. A process is underway to send 80 back to their countries, he said.Dr Zia Rahman, chairman of the Department of Criminology of Dhaka University, said due to having a suitable geographic location, the global financial criminal syndicates have been using the country as a transit route for gold smuggling, foreign currency and drug trafficking to several countries, especially bordering countries.He said the officials of different government agencies are also involved with the crimes, which give opportunity to the foreign nationals for wrongdoing.”Strict law and regulation should be enforced and exemplary punishment should be given to the criminals, both local and foreign. This can make a control over the saturated criminal activities,” he added.
